Multi-conductor cables are widely employed in the tele-communications and data processing fields to connect different pieces of equipment within a system together, or to connect different portions of a single piece of equipment. Typically, a complete cable or cable assembly is constructed of a length of multi-conductor cable having a multi-contact connector at each end for cooperation with mating multi-contact connectors on or in the equipment.
Further, cable assemblies are constructed both in factories and at the point of use of the cable and, in either situation, must be tested to insure that no defects exist in the cable itself, in the connectors, or in the points of connection between conductors and connector contacts. Types of defects which may be found and corrected include breaks in a conductor or its contacts (commonly known as "opens"), unwanted conduction paths between one conductor and another (commonly known as "shorts"), and wiring of a conductor to incorrect contacts at one connector or another (commonly known as crossed wires or "reversals").
Because of the structure of cable assemblies and the fact that cables are typically flexed during installation and, on occasion, during system usage as well, shorts or opens sometimes appear only when the cable is in a certain position or configuration. These types of shorts or opens, which are particularly difficult to locate are commonly known as "intermittent" connections.
The prior art has attempted to develop test systems that are suitable for the detection of the above situations. To the knowledge of the Applicant, the prior art is represented by such patents as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,514,552; 5,521,161; 3,728,616; 3,818,329; 3,982,1480; 4,074,187; 4,227,146; and 4,223,560. This art has been found to exist essentially in U.S. Class 324, Sub-Classes 51 and 66.
It is as a response to the excessive complexity and cost of those systems reflected in the prior art, that the present invention can be viewed.